The Red Report: Captain Rio, The Glazers & Liverpool

Finally we looked at the situation over at Anfield with their issues with Gillette, Hicks and RBS. Liverpool despite being massive rivals of ours are a massive club and the fact that they too are/were suffering at the hands of foreign owners resonate with us as United fans.

TG:

Even as a United fan, you must feel sympathy for Liverpool fans. While it’s admittedly enjoyable watching their plight on the field, I hope nothing as disastrous happens off it. Like Glazer, Hicks and Gillett are certainly to blame for their downfall, but they are due new owners so things could look up. In contrast, United’s situation is far more complicated because of the huge figure that the club is valued at, meaning the Glazers will Liverpool are the lucky ones in that sense providing they overcome current obstacles. Taking that into account, good luck in the Europa League!

Kyle:

Where to begin on this one? Well, as much as I’d love to bask in Liverpool’s downfall, it’s serves as a reminder that our owners are horrible and we could face a similar fate sadly (though I do think we’re on slightly more stable ground and using a better business strategy compared to the Anfield bunch). I don’t think I can comment too much on RBS because I simply haven’t read much about it over here in America. It’s just not in the news.

To an extent, Liverpool deserves it. Hoping your team loses so that United doesn’t win the title is sickening. And Stevie G’s “assist” was shameless. You wanted to lose, and now you’re doing exactly that. Have fun in Europa League, if you can even qualify for that!

Yolkie:

There are obvious similarities to be drawn with Liverpool and ourselves. Both are proud football institutions and both have USA owners that aren’t welcome. However, speaking with obvious United tinted specs on, I think the two scenarios couldn’t be any more different.

Many United supporters opposed Glazer’s takeover because of the principle of it. Liverpool fans welcomed the takeover when it happened because they wanted a sugar daddy to build them a stadium and give them lots of new players. Their overachievement in 2009 meant supporters had a wrongly inflated opinion of their squads worth and ability.

For about a year, Hicks and Gillett have made clear they want to sell if and when they get the price they want; they have drastically lowered their asking price, and at the end of the day, they bought a business and want their money back. As much as I despise the Glazers, how do our emotions matter to people who own a business and want a certain amount of money for it? United were valued by Forbes as over a $1bn, the Glazers aren’t going to sell the club for less than that. Especially when the revenue they have helped to generate has been huge.

The Liverpool fans protest video was painful but as the sale of the club is inevitable, they can pretend they have succeeded. Past all of this, I must confess I’m envious of their position, they are due to have new owners one way or another. I still hope their on pitch turmoil continues though. I blogged in May, after their Chelsea game, that their wish for on-pitch failure might come back to haunt them. It is doing, and it’s a pleasure to watch.

Siddarth:

The damage that the Hicks and Gillette regime has done at Anfield might be a bit too much for Liverpool to recover quickly. They have been abysmal lately, and the squad is probably the worst that Liverpool has had in decades. The American’s have done a quick demolition job of Liverpool and there are still reeling from the blow; hopefully they can recover quickly enough!

I’d hate to see Liverpool struggle in the premiership or even get relegated. Hopefully RBS can stop Hicks and Gillette from ensuring that he takes the club down with him! The next few weeks will be very interesting.

Chudi:

I don’t want to see Liverpool go down the drain, as deplorable as they are they are an institution and I respect them for obtaining that standard. That being said they were happy for the Yanks to come in so they must face the consequences. I won’t lie I am slightly jealous to see some kind of action taking place and I wish the gears started turning for us in the process of getting the Glazers out.

Best of the blogs:

• The Stretford End looked at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to pass on the job at Molde to remain at Old Trafford:

http://www.stretford-end.com/blog/2010/10/solskjaer-snubs-molde-dreams-of-united-job/

• ManUtd24 addressed the enigma that is Anderson after he was (mis)quote as saying he wanted a move away from the club:

http://manutd24.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/forget-porto-andersons-home-is-at-old-trafford/

• The Busby Way had a nostalgic look back at some of the players United missed out on over the years:

https://thebusbyway.com/2010/10/13/manchester-uniteds-what-if-the-players-that-got-away/

• Bangalore to Old Trafford worryingly questioned if we are a team in transition like in the middle of the last decade:

http://bangaloretooldtrafford.blogspot.com/2010/10/united-are-in-transition-should-we-be.html

The Red Report is always open to suggestions so if you want to see what we think on a specific subject don’t hesitate to get at us:

http://twitter.com/BTOT_MUFC

http://twitter.com/stretford_end

http://twitter.com/ManUtd24

http://twitter.com/TheBusbyWay

But don’t forget to check out our individual sites if you think we have missed something, as it is likely at least one of us will have covered it there:

https://thebusbyway.com/

http://manutd24.wordpress.com

http://bangaloretooldtrafford.blogspot.com/

http://www.stretford-end.com/